Military
Escalation, Dangerous Crossroads: Russia-US Confrontation in Syria?
By
Prof Michel Chossudovsky
15
December, 2012
On
December 14, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a Pentagon order
to deploy 400 US missile troops to Turkey. According to
Washington, the security of Turkey, NATO’s heavyweight, is
threatened. US military personnel will to be deployed to Turkey
in the coming weeks to operate two US Patriot missile batteries.
According
to the Pentagon’s spokesman, George Little:
“The United States has been supporting Turkey in its efforts to defend itself,… [against Syria]
“I’m not going to go into precise locations at this time, he added, “but I wanted to let you…know that we signed that order and that we are prepared in the context of NATO to support the defense of Turkey for an unspecified period of time.”
“The purpose of this deployment is to signal very strongly that the United States, working closely with our NATO allies, is going to support the defense of Turkey, especially with potential threats emanating from Syria,” US Air Force News, December 14, 2012)
The
Patriot surface-to-air interceptors are deployed to deal “with
threats that come out of Syria” According to U.S. Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta. these threats “include Syrian strikes inside Turkey
and fighting between the government and rebels that extends into
Turkey” (CNN,
December 14, 2012):
“We can’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether that pisses off Syria,” said Panetta [sic] after signing the order Friday. (Ibid, emphasis added)
In
addition to the US missile deployment, Germany and the Netherlands
have confirmed that they will also deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey
directed against Syria.
Not
mentioned in the official Pentagon statement, this buildup of patriot
missile batteries is not only directed against Syria, it
is intended to confront Russia’s military presence in Syria
as well as its support to the development of Syria’s air
defense system.
The
US-NATO Led Insurgency
The
Pentagon’s initiative in Turkey is part of the US-NATO-Israeli led
insurgency against Syria. In recent months, this insurgency has
evolved towards an unofficial (yet de
facto)
allied invasion characterized by the presence inside Syria of French,
British, Turkish and Qatari Special Forces.
These
Special Forces are “embedded” within rebel ranks. They are not
only participating in the training of rebel forces, they are also
involved in de
facto paramilitary
command and coordination, in liaison with NATO.
In
other words, member states of the Atlantic Alliance through their
Special Forces and intelligence operatives on the ground
largely determines the nature and thrust of rebel activities. Of
significance, the main fighting force directly recruited and trained
by US-NATO, Saudi Arabia and Qatar is the Al
Nusra Front,
(see image right) an Al Qaeda affiliated militia involved in
countless terrorist acts against civilians.
The
Broader Middle East War
The
US Patriot missile deployment in Turkey is part of a regional process
of militarization which includes the establishment of US
command posts and the stationing of American troops in Jordan and
Israel. This regional military deployment also
threatens Iran.
Moreover,
US-NATO-Israeli war preparations with regard to Syria are coordinated
with those pertaining to Iran. The command posts in Israel, which
oversee some 1000 US troops, in coordination with Israel’s IDF, are
under the jurisdiction of US European Command (EUCOM).
In
a recent statement Iran’s chief of staff warned that the stationing
of Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey’s border with Syria
“was setting the stage for world war”
It
is worth noting that in addition to the Patriot missiles in Turkey,
Patriot batteries targeted at Iran have also been deployed to Kuwait,
Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain (2010).
US Patriot Missile
Russia’s
Air Defense Systems in Syria
In
response to the US-allied missile deployment, Russia delivered
advanced Iskander missiles to Syria, which are now fully operational,
not to mention the ground to air Russian defense system Pechora 2M.
The
Iskander is described as a surface-to-surface missile system
“that no missile defense system can trace or destroy”:
The superior Iskander can travel at hypersonic speed of over 1.3 miles per second (Mach 6-7) and has a range of over 280 miles with pinpoint accuracy of destroying targets with its 1,500-pound warhead, a nightmare for any missile defense system.
Iskander
Mach 6-7
Moreover,
Syria is equipped with the
modern Pechora-2M air defense system,
which US military sources admit would constitute “a threat”,
namely an obstacle, in the case “a no fly zone” were implemented
in relation to Syria.
The
Pechora-2M is a sophisticated multiple target system which can also
be used against cruise missiles.
|
|
Description
|
The
Pechora-2M is a surface-to-air anti-aircraft short-range missile
system designed for destruction of aircraft, cruise missiles,
assault helicopters and other air targets at ground, low and
medium altitudes.
|
Ground
to air defense Russian Pechora 2M deployed to Syria (above)
Russia
Stands Firmly in Support of Syria
Contrary
to recent reports, Russia is supporting the government of Bashar al
Assad.
On
December 14, the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed rumors, largely
instrumented by Western press agencies and the New York Times, that
Moscow had changed its position with regard to Syria. The media hype
plastered on news headlines was based on an unofficial off-the-cuff
statement by Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mikhail Bodganov;
“We must face the facts: the current tendency shows that the government is progressively losing control over an increasing part of the territory,” Bogdanov told the Public Chamber. “An opposition victory can’t be ruled out.”
The
statement had nothing to do with Russia’s stance with regard to
Syria. In fact quite the opposite, Moscow has increased its military
cooperation with Damascus in response to Western threats.
“…We
never changed our position, and will not do so in the future,” said
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lukashevich at a press briefing in
Moscow.
It
is worth noting that on December 5, Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Mikhail Bogdanov accused Western countries of violating the
arms embargo by transferring “extensive supplies of weapons
to the Syrian “opposition” which is in large part composed of Al
Qaeda affilated militia,
Dangerous
Crossroads in Russia-US Relations
Washington
and its allies have consistently supported the various terrorist
entities which are part of the “opposition” rebel forces.
In
recent developments, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is threatening to
execute a Ukrainian journalist (see photo Below) and has also
announced that they will “kill Russians and Ukrainians nationals”
in Syria.
The
Free Syria Army (FSA) are the foot-soldiers of the Western military
alliance. Without Western support they would not be able to confront
Syrian government forces.
The
decision to threaten and target Russian nationals did not emanate
from the “opposition” rebel forces, but directly from Washington.
These
threats constitute a deliberate act of provocation against the
Russian government which is providing military support to Syria.
“Opposition” forces in consultation with US-NATO are now
threatening Russia, which is an ally of Syria.
We
are at a dangerous crossroads: while Patriot missiles are installed
in Turkey, Russian Iskander missiles are deployed in Syria.
French,
British, Turkish and Qatari special forces are involved in the
recruitment and training of FSA rebels, which are in large part
mercenaries. The FSA is now targeting Russian citizens in Syria on
the orders of Washington, leading to a potential breakdown in
international diplomacy.
Moscow
considers these threats as “akin to a declaration of war” stating
that “the armed insurgents in Syria [supported by the West] have
been emboldened to a point that they have stepped into an area where
they are beyond the law.”
Is
the threat directed against Russian nationals in Syria the prelude
towards a broader process of confrontation between US-NATO and
Russia?
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